Help With Transmission Fault After changing fluid/filter
 

Hello

I was trying to change transmission filter / fluid in my 2007 550i this morning. I mis-remembered the procedure and transmission is now not getting fluid into the transmission pan, and i am getting trans fault code. (Transmission obviously inoperable)

Please help me remedy this.

Here is what i did. (Not too proud of myself so please hold off on the criticism).

Took plastic shield off of underside of care (engine cold)
Drained Transmission Pan
Installed new pan
filled (6 liters) of fluid into the dipsstick port.
Started car and tried shifting through gears, etc, nothing.

Going back and reading instructions, i realized how poorly i remembered the instructions.

So, I attempted to drain trans pan again (but no fluid present)
So I siphoned 6 liters out of dipstick port heated to 40 Celsius
Heated engine to operating temperature
Put about a liter and a half at a time shifting transmission into park / reverse / park and reverse each liter and a half
Each time transmission gives fault code after about 8 shifts
Shut engine off, tried a few more times.

I am now stuck with a non-driving BMW. If anybody can tell me where i went wrong, how to remedy, i would totally appreciate it.

What dipstick port? I don't know where you poured ATF into, but your 6HP26 does not have a dipstick port, which would explain your lack of fluid in the gearbox. I hope you didn't drain and fill your engine with ATF and then ran it for any significant period of time. I would recommend stopping where you are and having the car towed to an independent mechanic you trust. You are possibly going to make a very expensive mistake.

https://5series.net/forums/diy-do-yo...thread-137584/

wow. you overfilled your engine with trans fluid.
there is no dipstick for the trans. that stick is for the engine oil.
there is a fill plug on the side of the trans, that you need to remove, and fill it until fluid comes out. and fill it while the engine is running.

you probably did some permanent damage to the trans by running it dry. and the trans fluid in the engine is bad.

he already made an expensive mistake. an automatic transmission is hydraulicly operated. it uses the fluid and pumps it and compresses it to operate pistons inside the trans. without fluid, the pump runs dry and probably wore out, and it probably provided enough air pressure in the circuits, that it applied the clutches enough to wear them out a bit. plus the fact that he ran the engine until it warmed up, means the trans was running dry for a long time. not good at all.

to the op, drain and refill your engine oil, because it now has trans oil in it. and fill the trans through the fill plug on the side, and hope for the best.
also, look in the diy section for info on doing this.

Yep, unfortunately you're probably right. Fingers crossed, but I'm guessing that gearbox is toast, and possibly the engine. This thread should be retitled "How to turn a 550i into a paperweight".

Im not trying to be negative but this is a funny post. I hope that your car is alright. This made my Valentines Day. I am dying over here.:nono::nono::fcuk: The only way to fill the trans is on the side of it. I would do two drain and fills on the engine oil. I pray that your car is alright.

i'd guess the engine is probably ok. trans fluid is a added to engine oil as an old school way of doing an engine flush. being overfilled however, is another story though.

Probably should just flatbed to the dealer to be safe.

If you want to be a big risk taker, fill the at the proper fill hole (cold) using the instructions on this board. Run the car doing the second procedure and final fill. If your not getting error codes maybe your okay.

Sorry to hear this went wrong. You got to be serious about these DIYs. I was neverous but alert as hell during the tranny oil change. I had to shut down once (second fill) when the hand pump line came off accidentally and reattachment meant I lost too much time and the oil temp could rise too high. Waited 3 hours for the tranny to cool down just to be extra careful.

Keep us posted. Good luck.

any news about how your transmission or motor are?

Thank you all for your help. Everything is fine. Your posts saved me from doing anything further. I changed the engine oil. (consider it flushed), and changed, rechanged, rechanged, and rechanged tranny oil until it nearly ran clear. Shifts like a champ.